Despite the deadly wave of delta variant coronavirus that overwhelmed hospitals and sent death rates soaring, high numbers of Americans are still refusing Covid-19 vaccines, according to a new poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, underscoring the challenges officials face as they try to move beyond the pandemic.
One in five Americans said they would never get a Covid-19 shot (16%) or would only do so if required (4%), according to the Kaiser poll, conducted October 14-24 among 1,519 U.S. adults.
Around a third of Republicans (31%) and rural residents (33%)—the groups most opposed to vaccination—said they would definitely not get the shot, the poll found, with a further 3% and 2%, respectively, saying they would only do so if required.
The poll also found strong vaccine opposition among uninsured people under 65 (28% said they would definitely not get the jab or only do so if required), white evangelical Christians (26%), those aged 30-49 (25%), men (24%) and adults without a college degree (23%).
Partisan divides persisted among vaccinated adults, Kaiser found, with nearly four in 10 (38%) fully vaccinated Republicans saying they probably or definitely would not get a booster shot if one was made available to them, nearly four times the number of like-minded Democrats (9%).